Future of Europe: second set of citizens’ ideas at Conference Plenary
This weekend (11-12 March), citizens’ ideas on EU in the world and migration, economy, social justice and jobs as well as culture, youth, sport and digital transformation will be presented and debated at the Plenary of the Conference on the Future of Europe.
40 recommendations have been prepared by the European Citizens’ Panel on ‘EU in the world /migration’ that met on 11-13 February 2022 in Maastricht, the Netherlands, and 48 recommendations by the Panel on ‘a stronger economy, social justice and jobs / education, culture, youth and sport / digital transformation’ which concluded its work on 25-27 February 2022 in Dublin, Ireland. These ideas, as well as those stemming from national Citizens’ Panels. organised by Member States, will be presented and discussed this weekend in Strasbourg. The European Citizens’ Panel in Dublin saw citizens taking the initiative to stand together in a show of solidarity with Ukraine. The situation in Ukraine is expected to be a background of this weekend’s discussions also, with the participation of Ukrainian citizens at the Plenary.
The Plenary debates the recommendations from both national and European Citizens’ Panels, and the input gathered from the Multilingual Digital Platform, grouped by themes, without a pre-determined outcome. The Panels have selected 80 citizens (20 for each Panel) to represent them in the Conference Plenary. The last session of the Plenary took place on 21 and 22 January in Strasbourg. The Plenary will, based on consensus, put forward its proposals to the Executive Board. The Board will, by 9 May, draw up a report in full collaboration and full transparency with the Plenary. The agenda of the Plenary session is available here.
European Commission Executive Vice-President Dombrovskis and High Representative Borrell will participate remotely, while Vice-Presidents Šefčovič, Jourová and Šuica, and Commissioner McGuinness will participate in person. In addition, Commissioners Gabriel, Breton, Ferreira and Johansson, will take part in different sections of the Plenary meeting.
Background
The four European Citizens’ Panels are a citizen-led process and a cornerstone of the Conference on the Future of Europe. Around 200 Europeans of different ages and backgrounds, from all Member States, met in each Panel (in person and remotely) to discuss and adopt recommendations on the challenges facing Europe now and in the future. Their deliberations take into account citizens’ contributions collected from across Europe via the Multilingual Digital Platform and events held across the Member States, and supported by presentations from prominent academics and other experts.
EU citizens’ contributions to the Conference, submitted via the multilingual digital platform by 20 February, will be included in a final report by the end of March. However, citizens can still submit contributions on the platform, to allow debate to continue online. Contributions introduced after 20 February may be covered by a final report after 9 May.
For more information
Process of the Conference on the Future of Europe
Timeline of the Conference on the Future of Europe
Free photos, video and audio material from Parliament’s Multimedia Centre
